The application of Aristotle’s rhetorical theory to the sharing economy: an empirical study of Airbnb

ABSTRACT

Sharing economy businesses require extensive trust-based communication between users and service providers to facilitate users’ positive persuasion processes. Based on Aristotle’s rhetorical theory, this study identifies three key persuasive cues (credibility, emotional bonding, and accommodation characteristics) and validates their roles in establishing users’ trust in an Airbnb setting. The moderating role of interactivity is further analyzed. Research findings from a survey sample of 171 Airbnb users indicate that persuasive cues are positively associated with trust in Airbnb hosts, which significantly leads to Airbnb brand trust. Interestingly, the moderating role of interactivity is only found in the relationship between emotional bonding and trust in Airbnb hosts. This study contributes to a better understanding of the factors that affect users’ trust building in the sharing economy context, and it offers guidance for platform providers to better operate their businesses by highlighting the important roles of persuasive cues and interactivity in users’ trust-building processes.     

Coopetitive behaviours in an informal tourism economy

In the business literature, coopetition is defined as simultaneous cooperative and competitive activities among actors. In the informal economy, norms and trust take the place of formal contracts among actors and may allow these actors to move from engaging in competition to cooperation easily suggesting that patterns of coopetition in this context might be different to that in the formal economy. This research explores coopetition among informal tourism economy actors using the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework and the concept of shared resources. The results of qualitative case studies of pedicab drivers and street vendors in Yogyakarta indicate that simultaneous coopetition occurs when the actors share multiple resources while sequential coopetition occurs in the context of a single shared resource.     

Coopetition and sustainable competitive advantage. The case of tourist destinations

This research paper focuses on coopetition among small and medium tourism enterprises (SMEs), and has two objectives. First it makes a theoretical contribution by establishing a model of variables that induce coopetition, the degrees to which coopetition exists and the relationship between those variables and firm performance. Second, it tests the modeling in the context of the tourism industry in Naples and Sorrento, Italy. The former comprises a sample of 149 accommodation providers and the latter 169. Building on survey data and local linkages between accommodation providers and SMEs in tourism it is found that coopetition improves performance but a key determinant is not only numbers of links but also acquired trust between partners.     

Coopetition strategies for competitive intelligence practices-evidence from full-service hotels

Our study investigates how coopetition strategies can influence hotels’ competitive intelligence (CI) practices to achieve a stronger competitive advantage. In-depth interviews were conducted with 39 hoteliers from 22 hotel groups in Hong Kong. Participating hotels employed different kinds of CI activities, though they were unaware of this concept. In particular, internal customer intelligence was added to integrated intelligence to better describe CI in the service sector. Still, investing in CI can be expensive and time-consuming since it requires hoteliers to align all insights from their respective intelligence pools toward building a holistic understanding of the results. We propose coopetition as a strategic approach allowing hotels to construct collective actions around CI without losing individual competitiveness. Actual coopetition in CI was only found between sister properties. Hence, we propose a coopetition model in which hotels can collaborate and compete in CI at an inter-organizational level via focusing on sharing open-source information and knowledge.     

Antecedents of coopetition in small and medium-sized hospitality firms

Coopetition, which is entering cooperation with competitors, lets firms overcome the challenges of uncertain environments and their intense competition and pressure to innovate. The hospitality industry frequently experiences this kind of competition. It is also dominated by family-run small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are inclined towards cooperation due to their limited size and resources, along with their strong social ties. Investigating hospitality SMEs’ decision-making, this mixed-method study tests the antecedents of coopetition in 171 hospitality SMEs in western Austria. Its findings show that economic benefits and destination networks directly and positively influence coopetition, while family involvement indirectly and positively moderates the effect of environmental conditions and social relationships on coopetition. Information from follow-up interviews with 15 firm managers complements the understanding of these effects. Our findings encourage destinations to establish services helping family firms to coopete.     

Linking Organizational Justice to Job Performance: Evidence from the Restaurant Industry in East Asia

This study examines the role of justice in a leader–subordinate dyadic relationship and the effect of the relationship quality on job performance in the restaurant industry. Based on the well-established framework of justice, the social exchange theory, and Confucian cultural background (collectivism) in East Asia, the study proposes and tests a model that attempts to understand a dynamic relationship among four dimensions of justice, two types of trust, and job performance. Using the data collected from restaurant employees in South Korea, the study finds that distributive justice and interactional justice are critical for nurturing an affect-based trust in East Asia.     

Trust and outsourcing: Do perceptions of trust influence the retention of outsourcing providers in the hospitality industry?

The global trend toward outsourcing necessitates unprecedented symbiosis between client-based organizations—purchasers of these services—and their multiple suppliers. Building on existing empirical work that suggests that the level of trust that exists between a purchaser and a supplier is fundamental in determining the strength of such a dyadic relationship, we examine how an organization's outsourcing efforts can be influenced by trust, and how perceptions of trust influence buyer retention of outsourcing providers. The resulting causal model suggests that communication, benevolence, and trust are vital to developing and maintaining productive, enduring relationships between purchasers and suppliers.     

Consumer-based chain restaurant brand equity,brand reputation,and brand trust

This study develops and tests a consumer-based chain restaurant brand equity(CBCRBE) model and investigates the mediating effects of brand reputation on the relationship between CBCRBE and brand trust. Using a structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, the four dimensions of CBCRBE- food & service quality, brand affect, brand awareness, and brand association- are found to have positive effects on brand reputation. Moreover, it is demonstrated that brand reputation has a positive effect on brand trust. The results of study confirm that brand reputation partially mediates the effects of food & service quality, brand affect, and brand awareness on brand trust. In addition, the effect of brand association on brand trust is fully mediated via brand reputation. The study of CBCRBE offers insights into the efficient strategies that can be used to enhance brand reputation and secure brand trust in the restaurant industry. Finally, based on the result of the relationship between CBCRBE, brand reputation, and brand trust, the study compares the differences among the groups according to the consumer visit purposes in relation to the CBCRBE dimensions. The results of the study contribute to improve understanding of the complex psychological processes involved in consumer selection criteria for a chain restaurant or relevant service industry.     

An examination of electronic video clips in the context of hotel Websites

The Internet has become a major channel for selling a myriad of products and services. To make the on-line shopping experience more vivid, retailers and service providers frequently portray product images and video clips on their Websites. Although the dimensions of e-Service Quality have been studied in various on-line contexts, research focusing on video clips in the context of hotel Websites is limited. The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine how consumers evaluate video clips portraying experiential services such as hotels. Our results indicate that consumers evaluate video clips based on six distinct dimensions: user interface, aesthetics, customization/personalization, assurance/trust, flexibility and virtual human interaction.     

Scale development for tourist trust toward a tourism destination

The increasing occurrence of tourist trust crises in various destinations in recent years has made tourism researchers and practitioners aware of the important role of trust. However, the previous literature has not provided a generally recognized scale for measuring tourist trust toward tourism destinations. In the current study, a qualitative analysis of social media posts and a quantitative examination of destination visitors were used to measure and validate tourist trust in a destination. The results revealed that tourist trust in a destination consists of five dimensions involving multiple stakeholders, including authorities, tourists, residents, employees, and the agency, which demonstrated that each party in the overall ecosystem of tourism destination plays a critical role in building positive tourist trust. Evidence from about 1100 tourists' responses at multiple destinations indicated that tourist trust has a significant positive impact on destination image. The study findings have many theoretical and practical implications.     

Destination brand experience and visitor behavior: the mediating role of destination brand identification

ABSTRACT

Destination branding has emerged as a critical tool for achieving competitive advantage through various conceptualizations, focusing on various aspects of branding. This research examines the role of destination brand experience (DBE), a new conceptualization, in assessing the holistic and unified view of tourism destinations. The conceptual model proposed in this research has been validated using structural equation modeling, based on the primary responses collected from 312 and 262 foreign visitors for study 1 and study 2 respectively, conducted at two different tourism destinations in India. Findings of both the studies suggest that various dimensions of DBE have a varied influence on destination brand identification (DBI), which subsequently affects both tourists’ trust and loyalty toward tourism destinations. In addition, DBI emerges as an important mediator for the relationship between DBE and destination trust (DT) as well as DBE and destination loyalty (DL). The study provides several implications for destination marketers about building trust and loyalty among tourists using DBE and DBI.     

Caring at a distance: a model of business care,trust and displaced responsibility

This paper advances an ethic of care for sustainable tourism. The study develops an original business care model that captures the dynamic interrelationships between care, responsibility and trust in corporate philanthropy. The model provides a novel perspective on how responsible business practices are formed across distance by shedding light on the different layers of responsibility and trust that characterize business–stakeholder relationships. The model is evaluated using the example of tour operators’ engagement in the Education for All project in Morocco. Findings show that tour operators’ commitment to caring at a distance becomes part of shared, displaced and performed articulations of responsibility. While performed responsibility acknowledges the embodiment of care, displaced responsibility shifts the responsibility to select, perform and/or oversee acts of care to stakeholders in destinations. Shared responsibility requires attention to the ways in which meanings and practices of care are co-constructed in corporate philanthropy with trust functioning as a central driver of these processes.     

International volunteer tourism and youth travelers – an emerging tourism trend

This study attempted to examine the intricate associations among volunteer tourism (VT) motivations, overall image, satisfaction, trust, and the influence of these relationships on behavioral intentions among youth travelers. Our findings from the structural analysis indicated that VT motivations significantly contributed to building positive images, inducing satisfactory VT experiences, and building trust with a VT organization. Our results also demonstrated the competence of the higher-order structure of VT motivations in explicating the intention formation. In addition, the overall image, satisfaction, and trust played an important mediating role. Moreover, satisfaction with VT experiences was of utmost significance in determining intentions.     

Acquiescence and conflict in exchanges between inbound tour operators and their overseas outbound partners: A case study on Tanzania

Achieving partner acquiescence is critical in interfirm exchanges because it allows the focal firm to achieve its desired outcomes. Using a case study on dyadic relationships between inbound tour operators in Tanzania and their overseas outbound partners, this paper investigates the effect of partner irreplaceability and distributive fairness on acquiescence, and the subsequent effect that acquiescence has on conflict. The case study uses partial least squares structural equation modeling on data collected from 129 dyadic relationships. Results show that partner irreplaceability and distributive fairness are positively associated with acquiescence, which in turn reduces conflict. The effect of distributive fairness on acquiescence was found to be larger than that of irreplaceability. In addition, the direct effect of distributive fairness on conflict, although not hypothesised, was found to be significant. This emphasises the importance of distributive fairness, and its role as a possible buffer to conflict in less acquiescent exchanges.     

Examining the Effect of Tour Guide Performance,Tourist Trust,Tourist Satisfaction,and Flow Experience on Tourists' Shopping Behavior

This study contributes to a model describing the effect of tour guide performance on tourist shopping behavior by examining the mediating effects of perceived credibility trust, perceived benevolence trust, and tourist satisfaction as well as the moderating effect of flow experience. Our analysis confirms that tour guide performance has positive effects on perceived credibility trust, perceived benevolence trust, and tourist satisfaction. However, only perceived benevolence trust and tourist satisfaction mediate the relationships between tour guide performance and tourist shopping behavior. Nevertheless, tour guide performance, as evaluated through perceived credibility trust and tourist satisfaction, has the strongest effect on tourist shopping behavior when compared to other routes in the model. In addition, the moderating effect of flow experience is confirmed in the perceived benevolence trust and tourist shopping behavior relationship, but it does not have any effects on other links. In light of our findings, managerial implications are discussed as well.     

Profiling satisfied and dissatisfied hotel visitors using publicly available data from a booking platform

We develop a set of models for predicting hotel visitor satisfaction and the probability of complaints about various service aspects. Our empirical analysis is based on 3630 reviews from one of the Dubai hotels. We identify profiles of visitors who are likely to be dissatisfied with the hotel service and need special attention, as well as of visitors, who are likely to be satisfied with the service and, therefore, do not require extra attention. The predictions are based on observable characteristics of visitors, thus making it possible for hotel managers to apply the models in their everyday work. Using content analysis we also reveal specific problems that different groups of visitors encountered and infer which of the problems has the highest impact on the overall satisfaction with the hotel.     

Building interpersonal trust in a travel-related virtual community: A case study on a Guangzhou couchsurfing community

Based on the theory of interpersonal relationships, this study aims to explore the process of interpersonal trust building in a virtual community involving both online and offline interactions. Results show that the interpersonal trust between couch surfers and couch host is a dynamic process covering three stages namely early, middle, and late. Initial trust is formed online at a high level, and then it is successfully transferred from the online world to the offline world. Meanwhile, the connotations of interpersonal trust develop continually from courtesy to instrumental, and then to emotional phase, with the development of the interactions between the two parties. Shaped by different factors under each phase, trust evolves from probable anticipation to mundane routine trust and then to ideological trust. A model illustrating the above process that how factors influence the process of interpersonal trust building and the evolution of trust connotations was proposed.     

Do travelers trust intelligent service robots?

This research investigates travelers' trust in intelligent autonomous technologies based on two studies involving self-driving transportation and robot bartenders. Targeting travelers residing in the United States, online questionnaire was distributed to test the relationships between trusting beliefs in intelligent robots, its antecedents, and its outcomes. The results demonstrate that the cognitive trust formation process holds in situations involving intelligent robots as objects of trust. Trust in intelligent machines is influenced by negative attitude toward technology and propensity to trust technology. Surprisingly, the physical form of robots does not affect trust. Finally, trust leads to adoption intention in both studies. The contribution of this research is in elucidating consumer trust in intelligent robots designed for socially-driven interactions in travel settings.     

The role of intrinsic in-flight cues in relationship quality and behavioural intentions: segmentation in less mindful and mindful passengers

The current study quantifies the relationship between intrinsic in-flight cues, passenger satisfaction, affective commitment, trust, and behavioural intentions in passengers travelling in low-cost carriers and legacy airlines. As far as we know, this is the first attempt to employ a multi-group analysis to test (1) if passengers in low-cost carriers and legacy airlines, and also (2) if the group of mindful passengers and the group of less mindful ones, have significantly different perceptions about flights in Europe. A total of 304 cases of legacy airlines and low-cost carriers were used in data analysis. Overall, affective commitment and trust are mainly triggered by in-flight ambience and space/function. Satisfaction and affective commitment play a more important role in behavioural intentions. As expected, the findings do not reveal significant differences associated with the paths between low-cost carriers and legacy airlines in short-haul flights in Europe. Nevertheless, compared with less mindful passengers, mindful ones tend to be more critical about in-flight attributes and do not easily develop a committed relationship.     

How will multifaceted trust impact domestic travel during the COVID-19 pandemic and subjective well-being? A comparison between Korea and the US

This study examines the impact of extended tourist trust constructs on domestic travel experiences, subjective well-being, and future travel intention in the pandemic. Data was obtained through a survey conducted on 1181 Korean and American domestic tourists. The results show that policy trust and destination trust have positive effects on travel frequency and satisfaction. Moreover, interactional trust positively impacted travel satisfaction. While both travel frequency and travel satisfaction have positive impacts on subjective well-being of travelers, travel satisfaction has a stronger impact on subjective well-being than travel frequency. However, certain relationships were influenced by national backgrounds (U·S vs. Korea).